‘60 Minutes’ Chief Ousted for a Threatening Text as Upheaval at CBS Continues

CBS entered a new stage of turmoil on Wednesday with the ouster of the longtime executive producer of “60 Minutes,” its flagship news brand, amid a cascading scandal over sexual misconduct that days ago ended the career of the network’s chief executive, Leslie Moonves.

Jeff Fager, who was only the second person in 50 years to oversee “60 Minutes,” was fired for sending a text message that threatened the career of a CBS reporter, Jericka Duncan, who was looking into allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him and Mr. Moonves.

The president of CBS News, David Rhodes, told staff that Mr. Fager’s departure was “not directly related” to those allegations of sexual harassment, which Mr. Fager has denied. But the network said the producer had violated company policy.

It would be hard to overstate Mr. Fager’s power inside CBS’s news division, where he succeeded the legendary producer Don Hewitt in overseeing “60 Minutes.” Some members of the show’s staff were livid on Wednesday during a contentious meeting with Mr. Rhodes at the show’s Manhattan office.

“I think it’s a terrible day for CBS News,” Sharyn Alfonsi, a “60 Minutes” correspondent, said in an interview before the specific contents of Mr. Fager’s text message were known. “I think it is awful. I don’t understand how you get fired over a text message.”

CBS has enlisted two law firms to investigate its workplace environment, including accusations published by The New Yorker and The Washington Post that Mr. Fager touched female colleagues in ways that made them feel uncomfortable and allowed a culture of harassment to fester at “60 Minutes.”

In his own statement, Mr. Fager, 63, called those allegations “false,” but he also admitted to sending a “harsh” message to a CBS reporter “demanding that she be fair in covering the story.” He added: “CBS did not like it. One such note should not result in termination after 36 years, but it did.”

CBS News had put together a team, including Ms. Duncan, to report out the allegations against Mr. Moonves and others. On Sunday, Mr. Fager replied to an inquiry from Ms. Duncan by warning her to “be careful.”

“There are people who lost their jobs trying to harm me, and if you pass on these damaging claims without your own reporting to back them up that will become a serious problem,” Mr. Fager wrote in a text message, which CBS News aired on Wednesday’s “Evening News” in a segment reported by Ms. Duncan.

The exit of two towering figures within 72 hours — Mr. Moonves and Mr. Fager had been at the network for decades — was especially jarring for CBS, the so-called Tiffany network, which has been a model of stability in the tumultuous waters of broadcast TV. Announcing the departure of a top executive in 2015, Mr. Moonves described “an easy and smooth transition — which is what we like here.”

The network’s clubby, old-school vibe had been sustained by high ratings and marquee shows like “60 Minutes,” whose loyal audience helped make CBS the most-watched broadcast network for the past decade. Popular anchors like Charlie Rose — who was handpicked by Mr. Fager, a good friend, to co-host a revamped morning program — lured viewers.

Now, executives inside the network’s Manhattan headquarters, known as Black Rock, face an uncertain future. The ouster of Mr. Moonves and Mr. Fager followed Mr. Rose’s dismissal in November after he was accused of sexual misconduct.

Mr. Rhodes, the CBS News president, will be tasked with reuniting a news division that, as of Wednesday, was divided over Mr. Fager’s sudden exit.

“The text to Jericka Duncan was threatening and inappropriate,” the longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft said in a text message. “It’s unfortunate, and everything about this situation saddens me.”

Mr. Fager’s text message was viewed internally as a serious breach, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal issues. Some at CBS were also uneasy with Mr. Fager’s continued presence at work, saying the producer remained defiant about the claims lodged against him.

On Wednesday’s newscast, the anchor Jeff Glor told Ms. Duncan that the text message she had received was “unacceptable.”

“It’s important for you to know, for everyone to know back there, that I, we, the entire team at ‘Evening News’ supports you 100 percent,” he said.

But inside the “60 Minutes” offices, across West 57th Street from the rest of CBS News, there was shock when the news of Mr. Fager’s firing landed in inboxes at 1:31 p.m. Several people were in tears.

“This action today is not directly related to the allegations surfaced in press reports, which continue to be investigated independently,” Mr. Rhodes wrote in his memo. “However, he violated company policy, and it is our commitment to uphold those policies at every level.”

Mr. Fager did not have a chance to address his staff, and a staff meeting with Mr. Rhodes quickly turned into something of an aggressive news conference. Several people, including the correspondent Bill Whitaker, pointedly questioned Mr. Rhodes about why this infraction was serious enough to merit Mr. Fager’s immediate dismissal. They wondered why it could not be folded into the larger investigation happening at CBS.

Ms. Alfonsi, the “60 Minutes” correspondent, was reporting from San Francisco and said she had listened in remotely. “There was nothing that I heard in the meeting that made this make sense to me,” she said.

When Mr. Rhodes mentioned that Mr. Fager’s longtime No. 2, Bill Owens, would replace him on an interim basis, there was a sustained round of applause.

Continuity matters at “60 Minutes.” Despite dwindling audiences for news, the show has remained among the highest-rated series on network television. Mr. Fager, though he had given up his title as chairman of CBS News three years ago, enjoyed carte blanche to run his fief as he saw fit, recruiting famous names for the “60 Minutes” lineup like Anderson Cooper and Oprah Winfrey.

Recently, the show scored big exclusives like Mr. Cooper’s sit-down with Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress who alleged an affair with Donald J. Trump, and Lesley Stahl’s meeting with Mr. Trump, his first televised interview after winning the 2016 presidential election.

Mr. Fager also took an active role in sanitizing less palatable aspects of the show’s culture, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal matters.

When the author of a “60 Minutes” retrospective began asking questions about the treatment of female staff members, Mr. Fager approached the writer and nudged him off the project. Mr. Fager ended up as the author of the book, “Fifty Years of ‘60 Minutes,’” which was published in October and discussed little of how women were treated at the show.

By Wednesday afternoon, before the “Evening News” report aired, more than 60 members of the “60 Minutes” staff — including the building’s security guard — had joined Mr. Fager for drinks at P. J. Clarke’s by Lincoln Center, the show’s regular haunt.

People were teary-eyed as they showered Mr. Fager with praise and hugs. Several said they were concerned that “60 Minutes” could be dismantled under new leadership.

“Jeff Fager is a wonderful boss,” Mr. Whitaker said, looking somber on a bar stool. “So much of the magic of ‘60 Minutes’ is because of him. He treats his staff as adults. He trusts his people.”

During his tenure, Mr. Fager collected 76 Emmy Awards and 13 Peabody Awards. In June, he was awarded one of the highest honors in broadcast news, the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award, at a starry luncheon in Manhattan. As stalwarts of the show like Mr. Kroft looked on, Mr. Fager described the “60 Minutes” mantra as “news is a public service” and praised Mr. Moonves for never trying “to influence our coverage in any way.”

Two years earlier, Mr. Fager appeared at the luncheon to present the award to a colleague: Mr. Rose.

Last year, Mr. Rose’s Fred Friendly prize was revoked. A spokesman for Quinnipiac University, which administers the prize, said Wednesday that Mr. Fager “will no longer be recognized as a recipient.”

Edmund Lee contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Another Executive’s Head Rolls at Besieged CBS. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe